Odell Beckham Jr. is not getting the ball enough. Nearly everyone, most prominently Beckham himself, agrees on that point. His Cleveland Browns quarterback, Baker Mayfield, wants to rectify the lack of looks for his high-maintenance wideout, too.
“I think people have this picture-perfect thing where it was going to be sunshine and rainbows and he was going to have a whole lot of one on ones,” Mayfield said in his Wednesday press conference. “It is Odell Beckham. He is going to have double coverage, and we have to find ways to format things to get him the ball and force-feed him early on to where he can make an impact before we can have the perfect look to have a shot play. That is something we have learned the hard way, but I think as the weeks have gone on, we are continuing to improve on how to get the ball to him.”
On Thursday, offensive coordinator Todd Monken reiterated many of the same points in his own press conference. He paid special attention to the red zone, where Beckham did not get a target in the Week 9 loss in Denver.
“Some of it is what they’re doing, some of it is what we’re doing” Monken explained. “When you only have that few targets to somebody, take look at how do we get our playmakers the ball.”
Monken noted the Browns coaches have faced a similar critique with RB Nick Chubb,
“We have a number of those guys skill-wise; we’re always looking to involve him in the offense. We go through this every week, there’s only one ball. Give it to Nick, not getting to skill guys.”
On the season, Beckham has 39 receptions for 575 yards and just one touchdown. He has his lowest catch rate and yards per game average of his career.
